State of Sports: Some facts to get you ready for the hockey regional
Mar. 21—THE NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament kicks off Thursday in Manchester, one of four regional sites for the 16-team event. Neither Dartmouth nor UNH will be skating in this year's tournament, but the Manchester Regional features two good matchups (with regional seeds):
—No. 2 Boston University (27-10-0) vs. No. 3 Western Michigan (23-14-1), 2 p.m.
—No. 1 Denver (30-9-0) vs. No. 4 Cornell (20-10-2), 5:30 p.m.
The winners will meet in Saturday's regional final (4 p.m.), which will also be played at SNHU Arena. Here are some items of interest to help you get geared up for Thursday's action:
—Western Michigan is the only team in the regional that has not won a national championship. Denver has nine titles (tied with Michigan for the most of any program), BU has five and Cornell has won the tournament twice.
—Denver is the defending national champion. The Pioneers, who won the NCHC regular season championship, defeated Minnesota State 5-1 in last year's championship game.
—Two Hobey Baker Award finalists, Western Michigan forward Jason Polin and BU defenseman Lane Hutson, will be on the ice for Thursday's first game. Polin leads the nation in goals scored (29), and Hutson has 14 goals and 33 assists. Hutson scored in overtime to give the Terriers a 3-2 victory over Merrimack in the Hockey East tournament's championship game and ranks sixth among Division I players in points per game (1.31). Polin is 12th in that category (1.21).
—Quinn Hutson, Lane's brother, is second among Division I players in game-winning goals (six). Lane has five. Both players are freshmen.
—BU coach Jay Pandolfo: "Being in Manchester helps us. It's only about a 50-minute, hour ride, so it certainly helps us. We'll go in there, practice on Wednesday and be ready to go. I like the team's confidence. We went through a rut there, Beanpot time, but we've come out of it. Playing a lot better. Winning games that are tough to win, coming from behind. That gives you confidence going into the tournament."
—Thursday's matchup will be the first meeting between BU and Western Michigan since 1994 (Mariucci Classic), when Pandolfo was a junior at BU. The programs have met three times, and BU won all three meetings.
—Goals-against average for each team's top netminder: Ian Shane/Cornell (1.73), Magnus Chrona/Denver (2.19), Cameron Rowe/Western Michigan (2.45) and Drew Commesso/BU 2.50. Chrona is the only senior in that group.
—Denver and Cornell both have potent power plays. Denver has the No. 3 power-play percentage in Division I (27.2). Cornell is fourth (26.4). Both teams are good at the other end of the ice as well. Cornell is No. 2 in scoring defense (2.00) and Denver is fifth (2.15).
—BU, which also won the Hockey East regular-season championship, enters the regional on a seven-game winning streak, but its depth will be tested as senior defenseman Case McCarthy and junior forward Nick Zabaneh were injured in the Hockey East semifinals and championship game, respectively.
—Western Michigan has scored 147 goals this season and allowed 97. BU has scored 145 and allowed 98. Although Polin is Western Michigan's Hobey Baker candidate, freshman Ryan McAllister is the team's leading scorer (13-35-48).
—The BU-Western Michigan game can be seen on ESPN2. The Denver-Cornell contest will be aired on ESPNews. Saturday's championship game will be shown on ESPNU.
—Western Michigan is one of three Division I teams that has at least four players who have 30 points or more this season. Minnesota and Michigan are the other teams in that category.
—Odds (via DraftKings) for each of the 16 teams to win the Division I championship: Minnesota (+250), Michigan (+350), Denver (+550), Quinnipiac (+600), St. Cloud State (+1200), BU (+1200), Harvard (+2000), Western Michigan (+2200), Penn State (+2200), Ohio State (+2200), Minnesota State (+2800), Merrimack (+4500), Cornell (+5000), Michigan Tech (+5000), Colgate (+15000) and Canisius (+25000).
—The winner of this regional will advance to the Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla., and will face the winner of the Fargo Regional (Minnesota, Canisius, St. Cloud State and Minnesota State) on April 6. This tournament's championship game will be played April 8.
